Sarah Maldoror films the carnival in Guinea-Bissau in the first years after its independence. She shows how a popular event collectively constructs a mindset that reverses the relations of colonial rule. By focusing on how residents view and celebrate their black identity during the annual festivities, the film is an expression of the emancipating power of art and culture.

English subtitles

Thieves is a reinterpretation of the 1924 black-and-white and the 1940 Technicolor versions of The Thief of Bagdad. In her version, Gamaker follows the words of film director Michael Powell: “to go out into the real world and turn it into a fantasy world where anything could happen”, and fantasises about mutiny on his film set. Chinese-American actor Anna May Wong and Indian-born American actor Sabu are united as fictional allies and claim lead roles in their own films. In doing so, they challenge racial discrimination in both the fictional and real film industry.

Mara Mattuschka’s anarchic and feminist alter-ego Mimi Minus walks the world like an alien the size of Godzilla or King Kong. She makes her way through the city destroying everything in her path, crushing people until the whole world crumbles. Using her body as a canvas, Mattuschka/Minus analyses and criticises both the experimental and Hollywood film productions that are full of war and catastrophe.

A fictional cooking show in which trans-femme stars Maria and Maria teach the audience at home, step by step, how to synthesise their own oestrogen. They perform a simple recipe while entertaining the audience with their witty chatter about body politics, institutional access to hormones and everything that’s problematic about heteronormativity. Using the kitchen as a battleground for addressing gender politics, the cooking show aims to undermine patriarchal society and fantasise about greater freedom and autonomy for all.